


Mother's Love

by Gwiazdka_Angel



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 06:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20830643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwiazdka_Angel/pseuds/Gwiazdka_Angel
Summary: You’re Jacob’s wife, you both trained Jack and you both feel guilty and responsible for what he became. You have to deal with him and the trauma he caused you.





	Mother's Love

You didn't know how much time had passed since your kidnapping, but you were almost convinced that the cold basement of Lambeth Asylum was going to be your grave. That you'd never see Jacob and your children again. That Jack would kill you to punish his former mentor. You were sure of it when the Ripper entered the cell he kept you locked in. You slowly stood up on shaking legs. If you were going to die, you wanted to die with dignity.

“Jack” you called softly, watching the man come closer. “You don't have to do this.”

“Shut up!” he yelled at you, still getting closer.

“Would you really do that? Would you kill someone who treated you like a son? Who you treated like a mother?” his order scared you, but you kept talking. You came up with a plan, risky and crazy one, but you didn't have much choice. You just needed to distract him.

“My mother is dead and it's Jacob's fault! And you never cared about me. You've seen only your perfect babies and their perfect daddy” he growled, his words soaking with venom.

“It's not true, you know it. I was busy, I admit, but it didn't mean I cared about you less” you tried to keep your voice steady and calm, but in fact you were frightened. Every moment could be your last, every moment he might lose his patience.

“Stop lying!”

“I'm not lying. I love you Jack. I always have and I always will” you said with your last strike of courage.

“No! You're just trying to trick me!” he protested, shaking his head. Apparently that was kind of distracting him.

“I'm not, Jack, I'm not and you know it. You were to us like a son. To me, you still are. I don't intend to hurt you, Jack. I love you, despite all these terrible things you've done” you felt tears forming in the corners of your eyes. It was killing you to not be able to go and save Jacob. It was a torture to see what Jack had become. You didn't want to even think of what you had to do, but you had to keep calm and carry on.

“Spare me your lies. You can not love a monster” he barked and you gasped. Was it really what he was thinking? Oh, Jack, you poor little boy. You knew you had to do what you planned, but his statement made it even harder than it already had been.

“Yes I can. That's what mothers do” you stated firmly. “You are not a monster to me, Jack. And you will never be. I might not have given birth to you, but it doesn't matter to me” you reached out and quickly took the mask off, exposing his face, twisted in a horrifying grimace. But you showed no fear. You looked deeply into his eyes. The eyes of a madman. You caressed his cheek. “I love you, son” you whispered, pulling him in a tight hug before he could react. “I love you and I forgive you” still hugging him, you gently took a knife he had hidden in his belt. A trick you had taught him a long time ago, when you wanted to protect him. Who could know it would become his end. You sobbed uncontrollably as you thrusted the blade into Jack's neck.

“You...” he choke, pushing you away. He gasped for air, pressing his hand to the wound.

“I'm sorry, Jack” you watched him through the tears. “I'm so sorry I had to it. But you needed to be stopped. You hurt too many people. You hurt my husband and intended to hurt my other children. I couldn't let you go free” you observed his body hit the floor in the last moments of his life. You kneeled by his side and caressed his cheek again. You let him see how much pain he caused, you didn't hide your tears. “I wish I could have done something earlier. To show you how much I've always loved you. To prove you Jacob never betrayed you but you betrayed him. To save you.”

“You couldn't save me” he whispered.

“I wish I could” you said, choking on your tears. Jack's body got still and inert as the last breath left his chest. “Rest in peace, my child” you leaned down and kissed his forehead, your tears dripped on his face. The terror had ended, you and your family were safe, but your heart was broken. You wished Jack could had understood what did you feel. Or that you could had protected him when he was a little child, that you could had prevent his imprisonment in the Asylum. Maybe that would had saved all those lives Jack had taken.

“Mrs. Frye?” you heard Frederick Abberline calling for you. All you could do was to grab Jack's mask and pull it quickly on his face. You didn't want anyone else to see it.

“I'm fine” you said when the door opened. The policeman examined you carefully with his look before he turned around.

“She's here, Miss Frye!” Abberline exclaimed. Was Evie with him?

“(Y/n)!” that answered your unspoken question, Evie appeared at the door. “Jack...” she noticed the motionless body next to you.

“I tried, Evie. I tried to stop him” you said quietly, feeling new tears on your cheeks.

“I know, I know. But right now we have to make sure no one will find out he was an Assassin. To protect the Brotherhood” she approached you and helped you get up. “Come, Jacob is waiting. He needs you now.”

You nodded, sending one last glance to Jack's body and let Evie get you out. She led you to another cell where you saw a weak form of your beloved man.

“Jacob!” you rushed to him, impatient to have him in your arms. He looked terrible, defeated and broken, but alive. You kissed him hard to make him sure you were real. “I'm here, baby. It's over.”

“Miss Frye, mrs. Frye, we should get going” spoke Abberline and you knew he was right. You shouldn't stay there any longer. “I'll make sure the secret is safe.”

“Thank you, Inspector” you said.

After a painfully long travel to home, Evie helped you to take care of Jacob and then yourself, before you could finally go to sleep in your own bed in your husband's arms and spend there a couple of days. Both of you haven't spoken much, your bodies were healing fast, but your minds were broken forever. Nightmares, panic attacks, even hallucinations made you two decide to not bring kids home for a while. Both of you needed time and you didn't want your children to experience this. PTSD hit you hard, you had to deal with it first.

One night you woke up calmly, not panting and frightened like you used to. Jacob was still asleep, so you quietly got out of the bed and stepped to the window to look through it. Your naked body shivered in the chilly air of the night. You two decided to sleep naked when you realized how helpful was skin-to-skin contact, how comforting it was and how much it calmed you. That pure intimacy was the best reminder you were safe in your own bedroom, by the love of your life's side. That you survived. Unlike those who didn't.

You froze, feeling an arm snaking around your waist and a scruffy chin being rest on your shoulder. The feeling of bare skin prevented you from going into full panic mode or even screaming. You relaxed quickly, realizing it was Jacob seeking for physical contact. He needed this, it was his way to deal with the demons haunting him.

“It's okay, Frye, there's nothing to be afraid of” you whispered, calming yourself.

“We've been married for years and you still call me by my last name?” he complained.

“I was talking to myself” you explained, caressing his hands. Jacob kissed your shoulder and you felt him smile. A moment of comfortable silence fell between the two of you.

“You think we should talk about it?” the man asked quietly.

“We can try, but I don't think it would help” you answered skeptically. “Besides, what can we say that would make us feel better? We both feel guilty for teaching Jack everything he knew, for not seeing who he was becoming, for not helping him when there wasn't too late. We are responsible for all of this” you whispered, leaning against your husband's chest. “He did terrible things, but I still can't hate him for it” you whispered, barely even noticing you started to cry.

“You loved him. And so did I. And if only we loved him less, we could have stopped him sooner. I would have stopped him. But I didn't want to hurt him, you know? I let him win, I let him hurt me, because I couldn't accept what I had to do until it was too late. I hesitated. You did not. You're far better than me” Jacob kissed the top of your head. You could hear his voice crack. He buried his face in your hair.

“We both hesitated and we have paid for it” you turned around to face him. “The whole London has paid a high price for our mistakes. The best we can do now is to make sure it will never happen again” you cupped your husband's cheek, wiping tears off it.

“We will, baby” Jacob kissed your palm and leaned in to capture your lips. “I'm so glad I have you. As much as I hate to see you suffer, I feel better knowing you can understand me and I'm not alone in this mess. All the time Jack kept me captive, I had been thinking about you and our children. I would have ended up insane if I hadn't.”

“And I had thought about you when I killed Jack. I forgave him everything but one thing: hurting you and trying to hurt our children” you confessed, wiping your own tears.

Jacob looked at you, kissed you hard, then pressed you tightly to his chest. You buried your face in his warm skin, wetting it with your tears and feeling his falling onto your shoulder. You spent a few minutes crying together in a tight embrace. You were broken and defeated, but you survived. Your relationship strengthened even more, you didn't hide any of your feelings, there was no barrier between you.

After a while you headed back to bed. Jack's terror did a lot of damage and your wounds were healing slowly, but every moment without the thoughts of the trauma you had, was a big success. One day you would stop having nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks. One day you would be able to look at Jacob's missing eye without feeling guilty and thinking about Jack. One day. For now you knew you were going through hell and even though it hurt, it also made you stronger than ever. Because you were together and madly in love. And love conquers all.


End file.
